Having split my life between the States and France, I can relate. However, what is the difference between a Walmart superstore and a Carrefour hypermarché? The way things are organized, of course—that jumps out at you. But both are huge.

I have observed Parisians and New Yorkers. Parisians walk faster, but inside they are as you say more leisurely.

The biggest mistake that people make is to think that Americans and the French are similar. There are big cultural differences.